This question is for anyone who has bred chameleons. I hatched out a few different clutches of panther chameleons. Many of them grew without incident and alreqdy have been placed in new homes. However, i have had about a half dozen out of 50 something chams turn up with short tongue extension. One was a baby only two weeks maybe out of the egg. 4 sub adults and a very large adult 10 plus inches!Dont know how I could have missed that one into adulthood! They all had the same father but different mothers. Here are some things I was thinking it could be but really would love to hear if anyone had solid evidence of what is going on.
One I thought it could be nutritional but does not make sense to me that such a very small percentage would have this issue when all 50 or so were eating the same food including adults and moms who sprang back without problem after the stress of egg laying. Besides, I am a bug enthusiast and breed many different prey items for my chams,variety not an issue and I use the ad cham gutload plus my own ingredients after much research on nutrition.NeVER had this issue with adults in my care.
Second, I was thinking genetic. Again, wouldnt think that such a small percentage would have this issue. The half dozen or so that turned up with the issue were from different mothers so if it was a genetic issue would have to be from dad. I have NEVER heard of anyone having this issue and linking it to a genetic issue but that is why I am writing this.
Thirdly and this is my theory that I think is most likely the case is that the chams being in the same cage and yes I do have chams in the same enclosures as I work to expand are shooting at the same prey, making contact with each others tongue and somehow breaking their hyphoid bone or spraining something so that they are unable to shoot properly.
I dont know what is going on so anyone who has ever dealt with this issue please clue me in.
thanks!